Page:Zawis and Kunigunde (1895).djvu/227

 The receipt of the invitation created a surprise, and almost an alarm at Prague.

Consultation succeeded consultation. “If we accept this proposal,” declared the queen, “we shall place ourselves in his power; and no inducement could persuade me to do that. He is master of mysterious arts; and his magician’s skill associates his presence with evil agencies. I should dread to place myself within the immediate neighborhood of his conjurations.”

“His walls are strong,” said Nicolas, “and his power is formidable; it is not expedient that the king should submit to the grace of a dangerous conspirator and usurper. Zawis holds still fifty thousand marks of the king’s revenues; and control of the king’s person would enable him to obtain a release from that obligation, besides we know not what other conditions. His marriage with the Queen Kunigunde arose from an attempt to seize the crown; and there are persons nearer to the king who have a better right. Had Queen Margaret continued in her rightful place, although childless, Bohemia must have exercised her elective right in my favor. Kunigunde displaced Queen Margaret; and I shall never consent that the king shall honor the usurper by accepting his presumptuous proposal.”

“My judgment is,” observed bishop Tobias, “that it is for the king’s highness to command, and for his subjects to obey without hesitation. The king is the fountain of power, even as he is instructed and guided by the church to exercise it. Should the